Thickness compensator for flat plate ironers



Sept. 12, 1950 E. E. FOSTER 2,521,708

THICKNESS COMPENSATOR FOR FLAT PLATE IRONERS Filed Feb. 15, 194? 9 Sheets-Sheet l h, flaw:

Sept. 12, 1950 E. E. FOSTER 1,708

THICKNESS COMPENSATOR FOR FLAT PLATE IRONERS Filed Feb. 15, 1945 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 CZWL 77 faster Sept. 12, 1950 E. E. FOSTER THICKNESS COMPENSATOR FOR FLAT PLATE IRONERS 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 15, 1943 E. E. FOSTER Sept. 12, 1950 THICKNESS COMPENSATOR FOR FLAT PLATE IRONERS 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 15, 1943 ,invenion fi Foster Sept. 12, 1950 E. E. FOSTER 2,521,708

THICKNESS COMPENSATOR FOR FLAT PLATE IRONERS Filed Feb. 15, 1943 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 ,Jiu/enior:

[dwiv E. ICBJZEI' Sept. 12, 1950 E. E. FOSTER THICKNESS COMPENSATOR FOR FLAT PLATE IRONERS Filed Feb. 15, 1943 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Edwin -E Easier Sept. 12, 1950 E. E. FOSTER 2,521,708

THICKNESS COMPENSATOR FOR FLAT PLATE IRONERS Filed Feb. 15, 1943 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 Edwin Foster 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 E. E. FOSTER THICKNESS COMPENSATOR FOR FLAT PLATE IRONERS Filed Feb. 15, 1943 Sept. 12, 1950 E J om r w mm r s V 5 w U E R n R L QQH W N 5 mn R av MO &- who PPE Sept. 12, 1950 E. E. FOSTER 2,521,708

THICKNESS COMPENSATOR FOR FLAT PLATE IRONERS Filed Feb. 15, 1943 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 lana menial? 5414 01 5:58P

Patented Sept. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES. Parent 'rnronnnss oomrnNsa'ronronrtar s ars menses Edwin E. Foster Austin, Tex. Application ret al-y 15, 1943, sena n ,4r5,95

10 Claims. (Cl. 338-25) 2: the press closedposition before the application Actually, this invention insatorfor the ironing members and a particular mounting for the operating handle toshorten the lengthfcf travel compared with the travel of the head member of the ironer.

It is therefore an object of, the invention to! provide an automatically operative thickness compensator, actuated by the head member arm or by the stored energy unit which is operative just prior to or simultaneously with the.app1icaf' t-ion of the ironing force between the ironing members A further object resides'inthe provision ofa movable or pivotedbed member to compensate for the thickness of the material being ironed and the application of the compensating elements operable inthe stationary frame of the machine or ironer.

Another object of the inventicn'resides in the provision of mechanism to reduce the extent of I travel of, the operating handle of the ironer relative to the extent oitravel of the head or movable member of the ironer. A further object resides in an adjustable mounting of the handle to a side position and out of the way when the machine is not in; use. Insuch latter'position the handle acts to keepthe head and bed members separated a slight distance to permit the head member to cool oii and the bed member to dry out after ironing.

Further objects will be apparent from the folthe press closedposition before the application of ironing pressure,

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the machine in in the of pressure with a partin section,

Fig. 6 isa side elevation of the machine partly in'section in the pressure applied position,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the handle mountins means! Fig; 8 is a plan view ofthefmachine Fig. 9 is 'a side elevation partly injse a modified ironer in" thepress closed position just before the application of pressure,

Fig. 10 is a sectional viewtlirough the stored energy unit and adjacentfipartsof the'machine of Fig. 9, v

Fig. L1 is a side elevation of the lower forward end of the ironershowin'g modified'details] Fig. 12 is Fig. 11', v n Fig. 1*3is aside elevation of rheumatism end of I -the ironer showing further jmodified deftails, and a l Fig, 14: is aside elevationof the ironerofFig, 13.

a front elevation ofthe irone'r' 'ilhe' 'press or ironerincludesa-substantially -U-shaped base frame member H having afr'ont angle member l2 mounted on suitable feet or rubber discs it, a bed member or buckl4 and a head or niovable member or shoe 15(- The-bed member It may be provided with a padding in a terial as usual and the head member l5 may be made of metal suchas aluminum heated by suitable well known electric heating units -"(not The bedmember l t is suitably secured' on one end it of a u shaped lever fit'pivotedbnthe other end; Iii in theupright sectioniii of the frame member 5 i one, pivot shaft ZEL A- compressionspring 21 bears on one endon' the-frame I iand the other end under the becl 'member' l l to constantly urge the latter upwardly, the purpose'of which will; be explained. The end portion Id of the arml-i is provided with ajbarfl having a plurality of ratchet teeth 23' cuttherein, the latter cooperating with a pawl or'locking member 2 2 pivoted at 25 in the front end oi the frame member M, Fig; 6. A link 25 is pivotally connected at '21 to the pawl 24 the other end having a smallspring 28 bearingagainst a -bell crank lever 29," A, small tension spring 26 is'secured at one end to theirame l2 and-the other end to the link 26 to urge latterto th'e left,"Fig. 6. The lever Z Q-i s pivoted at as in the rear part en is '55 is provided with a stop button 64;

of the frame ll, Figs. 5 and 6, and is provided with a projecting trigger finger 3| extendin through one side of the frame member through an elongated perforation 32.

The head member I5 is provided with suitable electric current adjusting buttons 33 and an electric cord 34, Fig. 8, for the heating means (not shown) in the head member. The latter is shown as mounted on a horizontal rod or pivot 35, Fig. 8, to a movable arm 36 but any other type of mounting may be utilized. The arm 36 is suitably stamped from sheet metal or it may be formed from several pieces. As shown this arm has a top section 31 extending from the head member I5 to the edge 38, Figs. 2 and 6, and two side sections 39 extending the full length of the arm.

Each side section 39 is provided with a pivot pin 40 each mounted in one side of the frame 19, Fig. 5.

The permanently stored energy unit which is utilized to provide the ironing pressure, is similar in construction and operation as shown and described in my prior Patent No. 2,231,897, of February 18, 1941. In the form of invention of Figs. 1 to 8 the unit 4| comprises a frame 42 pivoted on pins 43 each secured in a side section 39 of the arm 36. A compression spring 44, Fig. 6, is mounted in a cylindrical housing pivotally mounted on a pin 46, th latter being secured in ball bearings 41, Fig. l, in the frame Hi. The spring 44 bears at one end on the-end 48, Fig. 6, of the housing 45 and. the other end on a disc 49, the latter being secured at one end of a rod pivoted in ball bearings 5! in two lugs 52. These lugs 52 are secured in an end wall 53 of the frame or casing 42, by means of bolts 54.

The arm 36, together with its headmember l5 and the energy unit M, are operated by means of a hand lever 55 having a hand grip 56 at the front end of the machine. The hand lever is removably mounted in a socket 51. A winged set screw 58 secures the hand lever 55 in place. The socket 51 is secured to a shaft 59 rotatably mounted in lugs 60 bolted on the top surface of the casing 42. A depending link 6| is secured to or is made integral with the shaft 59 and extends through an opening in the top of the casing 42, Fig. 6. This link is secured to a second link 62 which is operatively connected to the pin 46 which is the axis of rotation for the cylinder 45 of the stored energy device. The socket. 5? has a short cut-out portion 63 and the hand lever As shown in Fig. 8, the lever 55 may be adjusted at-an angle 65 relative to the longitudinal axis of the arm 36 when the ironer is not in use which is quickly accomplished by unscrewing the set screw '58 a number of turns and rotating the lever 55 inits socket 5'! limited by the cut-out portion 63 and the set screw 53, Fig. 3. The casing 42 will thus abut against the stop button 64, since the head member and its arm tend to rise due to spring 44 and in that position the head and bed members will be separated about one inch permitting the ironing surfaces to dry out or off and the ironer is. thus more compact when not in use.

'In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 9 and 10 the base frame 65 has a telescoping casing 66 and 61 surrounding the spring 68, the pawl 69 and the ratchet post or support 10. The bed member H is suitably secured on the post 10 and the latter is integral with the supporting lever 12 of U-shaped configuration pivoted on the pin 13 in the upright back portion 14 of the 4 frame. The head member 15 is suitably secured to the arm 16 pivotally mounted on pins ll secured in the upright portion 14.

The permanently stored energy unit 18 is similar to the unit 4| of Figs. 1 to 8 except that in the .form of invention of Figs. 9 and 10 a tension spring 19 is utilized instead of a compression spring. This spring 19 is pivotally mounted on one end on a pin mounted in ball bearings 8| in the upright frame portion 14, Fig. 10, and the other end of the spring is secured to a link 82 rotatably mounted in a bracket member 83 secured to the back wall 84 of the unit casing 85. The casing or frame 85 is rotatably mounted by means of ball bearings 86 on pins 81 secured in the side parts 88 of the arm 16.

- An operating handle 89 having a grip portion 90 is pivoted at 9| to the top surface of the casing 85 and is connected to a lever 92. This lever 92 'is connected to a rod 93 which is secured at 94 to the pin 80.

The pawl 69 is pivoted on the rod 55 in the frame 65 and has a lever arm 96 connected thereto at the end 91. A spring 98 is mounted on the other end bearing at one end on a nut 99 and on the other end on a bell crank lever I00 and an abutment NH. The bell crank lever I00 is pivoted at I62 in the upright portion 14 of the frame and has a projecting finger I63 adapted to cooperate with and project into the path of the casin 85.

The ironer of Figs. 1 to 8 operates as follows:

Fig. 1 illustrates the non-ironing position with the force of the stored energy unit 4| passing in its circuit through the casing 42, side sections 39, and frame I9, that is practically the full ironing pressure of the spring 44 is held by the frame parts of the base and arm members. The article to be pressed is laid out on the bed member l4 andthe grip 56 of the lever 55 is now grasped and pulled down to the position of Fig. 2 to bring the head member [5 simultaneously down on the bed member l4 and on the article to be ironed. As the article to be pressed has some thickness the head member l5 will force the bed member 14 down slightly dependent upon the amount of thickness and just when pins 43 are practically in coincidence with the pin 46, one side section 39 of the arm 36 will abut against the finger 3| to slightly rotate the bell crank lever 29 counterclockwise, Fig. 6, resulting in a pull to the right,

6, to move the pawl 24 into the nearest adjacent tooth 23 to prevent further downward movement of the bed member l4 which latter through portion l6 and arm I! pivots around shaft 26. Further downward movement of the handle lever 55 from the position of Fig. 2 to that of Fig. 3 results in shifting the energy unit 4l upwardly to change the force circuit of the pressure of the spring 44 through the head and bed members for the ironing-pressure at the'same time maintaining the pawl in contact with the rack bar 22. The actual operation of the stored energy unit is completely described in my said prior patent. It will be seen from the drawings that during the movement of the head member [5 from the position of Fig. l to-that of Fig. 2 that the handle lever 55 has traveled or moved only a fraction or less than half the distance of the head member, which is due to the fact that the handle lever 55 pivots around the pin 49 as an axis and not the axis of the shaft 59. When the handle is moved from the position shown in Fig. l to the position shown in Fig. 2, the link 62 stays practically stationary in relation to axis 46, but the point 59 is above the pivotpointLotthearmfitand causes thearm 3.9.; to. pivot. about the; point; 53.- The link 61] and lever 5.5:form a lever-Withthe point.- tttactin a thepoint of eontactagainstthe arm 35;, Inother words, referring-Whig. 9:; the; point 94g is above, the point 4ftandrureesthe-headdownwarcl as the handle. 55,- is; moved downward, This causes a slight. movement: of the nk nd: 3 9 1 h e isv no relative movement thelinlgs from the position of; Eig 2 to that oil ng. 3 since allparts move. together. purpose of the initialsmall travel; of the, handlev lever is. to limit the: total; movement. 0t suolr lever, which is necessary; to move not only the head member to the bed membertbut, also to. move the energyunit; Furthermore the particular mountingot the; handle lever makes it. unnecessary to. provide. two operating handles,- that s, one or; hemed member and one; for the-energynnih As-desorihed inmy-prionRatentNo. 2,231,892, a mall po ion f; he ene y es insM-l i expe del: r c unteran in he nd arm 3t; said energy, loeinaeasily restored upon each. downwardull on the handle; lever 55; that is, at th esinn ne f: st. r nirlsr Thus the spring 44;, maintains the par ts in the. press open position of F155,. A

Af er ro in s e h is on mo n the parts irom thaposition of. Fig, 3 to that of Fig. l.-, the, f nger, 3! released whereupon the star ng2 t r st he he z mt a k. to-its ori al-Pos io a When all; the. ironinghas been, completed the ironies should not h h fil W tion Fig. 3, since the usual. padding on the bed member l i wilLnotreadily dry outand the metal contacting suriace of'. thehead. member. litmay ar ish n e therwise t s d. a e m ur To lease the irone rc in the pressfopen, position, Eig. 1-, talses;up .too Inuohspaoe. To avoid the fo eg nst aw tta mnetra iss q.i the position of-Fig, 8,;with thehandlelever, 5.5 inthe position indicated bythedotted lines 55f. This is ase sl she ts-P a n hear nt e o i n of; E hs i-1usstr ins h e sc ew 8 a d rotatin the handlelever tiftto theright, Fig.8, until-t eset screw,reachesitslimit of movement a d in di h utt pq enfia n he ec e 51. Them by releasing mahualhqld onsthehf ad member l5, the arm. 3 6.andits head member L5 willsmo v e, upslightl-y, about one inch for thelatter, until the upper snrfaceAl of the. energy unit H contactsrthe StQn buttonfifi,

The pressof-Figs. 9. and l qsoperates. in a man ner similar. tothat of Figs. 1 to 8, In thiscon struotion. the automatic thickness; compensator operates hy meansof thecasing 85 t!) one endof whichthe energyunit secured.

T ean l lwer.55 mm if desiredhe e q s omt c b qem'sle s un crewi h set screw 58, whioh is thr eaded the end of, the lever. 55. Whenthehandle lever is in the positions shown, the set screw 58; is not only wedged by t mit end u sce ga ns the in i e u a he s t s tlbl t so a n t one. e of he u st; orti n, 6 n h o i i n of the ha dl e r h9v n a esh n gthe set screw 58 hasmerely been loosened and the lever S S rQtated tothe right in its socketuntilthe setscrew abuts against the other side ofthe cututnq tie It may be desirable to provide two pawls instead of one in order to secure-a more accurate adjustment of 'the position of the bedmember M to compensate for the thickness of thematerial to be pressed. Figs. 11- to 14-il1ustrate two modimember, and-lmeansmmmtedfin he 6'1. e o s ructi nsinwhich twonaw sare needing. stead oft one. l

InEigs. 11.and ;12;a pair of pawls l l fl and Ill. are rotatablymountedonarod I'Z Q -by mean at a ngs. fiaan lml ,--r .$De.tiVQ Y nd th are nnee edto he actuatina y f aforkedz ndimemhatH1 1. Earth v pressed by of asepara Steins? "t Le ne against a lug I I5 and these pawls cooperata with rather wide ratchet member L119; having, teeth thereon. The. QaW'L H0; is slightly; shorterthan a l; 1H; 3 a em ts hi qtonstr t iqntafin r adjustm nt. spq s l In Figs. 13 and 151- thestru cture, of; thetdonble pawls is simi ar excepthat paw s. H5 are each provided with a, plurality of ;t.eeth, 1 3

Th op tion. o h d ublepawl d ects; i believed toobe obvious whentit iseconsidered hat hed uble pawl pro ider a erens sem nt thereof with the. tootlri on teeth. of. the natehet m mb at the. p in re t e. e m mbe has reached extreme bottom position d-ue t th thickness of the materiaLto be irone a 6. s Slbly also slightcompression of: the. pa i the bed member.

I claim asmy invention;

1. In a flat plate ironer; having; a base irarne and m l arm wi h; coopera i nd; mo able head and bed members otwhichthe head mem; ber is secured to the arm and; the bed member s upported y. th asef me s ght ve tical me t;- d-anene ym-tqe nect dt0 the f-ramea ar o upn e Qsineprsore when the head nd ed m m ers-8 m n closed position, an automatic thickness compensator comprising .a, ratchet member mounted. onthebed member, a pawl pivotally mounted on-the frame, andmeans operative by contactwith. the arm after the. h ad memb r-c ntac ee fonr h bed-membento move the, pawl intgcontact with the ratchet; member to hold the. bed member; in the adjusted; position. in dependence. noon-the thickness of;-the material-to be ironed,

spru

ber. is secured to the, arm and.v thebedmemhe is supported by the. base .frame. with SIightverticaI movement a-nd=- an energ Llnll connected to; the frame and arm to supply the ironing. pressure wh n he Mad; a b fi t n .9. 9 position an, automatic thickness compensator comprisinga ratchetmember m0nnted ontl1e-,bed m be a. paw ipi ota x, m n eclqo he. frame a me ns ope at e y ontac it h er y unit a er he h adcm mbes on a ts the s the bed embe o. move he p wl; n ontac withthe. hatchet member to; hold the bQdfllgiQlI-i- 61" l. d; HQ$ 9n 1 QPQ Q-MFQ p.9 the thicknessoi the materialto beQironed;

3-, In flat plate. ironerhaving. a base. frame an a. mo ab e. m w th o per tin he d n bed members ofwhich the head. member-.is. secured. ov the arm. nd h ed; memb mp r ed b t e base rame i h. li t ica movementyand an energy unit connected. to the frame and arm to supplyrthe inoning pressure when the head and bedsrnemb are in closed posi on; saidbed-rmembfl, tl mou with: respect to the,.f'-r energy unit being e a ive o. ar y t as. meteors a a. definite pos ion of he-h ad. embe la-th to he-franieanautomatic t s; compen ator p is n an adjustable om .5; he t a e itha 7 portion thereof extending into the path of movement of the arm to hold the bed member in an adjusted position in the closed position of the ironer in dependence upon the thickness of the material to be ironed, said means including latch means responsive to movement of said energy unit to a point adjacent said definite position to lock the bed member against further downward motion.

4. In a flat plate ironer having a base frame and a movable arm withcooperating head and bed members and an energy unit connected to the frame and arm to supply the ironing pressure when the head and bed members are in closed position, said bed member being movably mounted with respect to the frame and said energ unit being operative to apply the ironing pressure at a definite position of the head member relative to the frame, an automatic thickness compensator comprising an adjustable mounting for the .bed member, and means mounted in the frame with a portion thereof extending into the path of movement of the energy unit to hold the bed member in an adjusted position in the closed position of the ironer in dependence upon the thickness of the material to be ironed, said means including latch means responsive to movement of said energy unit to a'point adjacent said definite position to lock the bed member against further downward motion.

5. An automatic thickness compensator for a fiat plate ironer having relatively movable head and bed members and a frame and an arm pivoted to the frame and carrying the head member,

and means connected to the pawl and projected into the path of movement of the arm in such manner that when the head member contacts the material to be ironed and moves the bed member downwardly a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the material to be ironed, the arm will actuate said means to move the pawl into the ratchet teeth to prevent further downward movement of the bed member.

6. An automatic thickness compensator for a flat plate ironer having relatively movable head and bed members and a frame and an arm pivoted to the frame and carrying the head member, comprising a, U-shaped lever carrying the bed member at one end and pivoted at the other end to the frame, said lever having a series of ratchet teeth' adjacent the bed member, a pawl pivoted in the frame and cooperating with the ratchet teeth, a link connected at one end to the pawl, and means connected to the other end of the link and projecting into the I path of the arm in such manner that when the head member contacts the material to be ironed and moves the bed member downwardly at a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the material to be ironed, the arm will actuate said means and link to move the pawl into the ratchet teeth to prevent further downward movement of the bed member.

7. An automatic thickness compensator for a fiat plate ironer having relatively movable head and bed members and a frame and an arm pivoted to the frame and carrying the head member, comprising a U-shaped lever carrying the bed member at one end and pivoted at the other end to the frame, said lever having a series of ratchet teeth adjacent the bed member, a pawl pivoted in the frame and cooperating with the ratchet teeth, a link connected at one end to the pawl, and a bell crank lever connected to the other end of the link and projecting into the path of the arm in such manner that when the head member contacts the material to be ironed and tends to move the bed member downwardly a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the material to be ironed, the arm will 'move the pawl, by means of the link and bell crank lever, into the ratchet teeth to prevent further downward movement of the bed member.

8. In a fiat plate ironer having cooperating and relatively movable head and bed members and a frame and an arm pivoted to the frame and carrying the head member, the combination with a stored energy unit pivoted on the arm and frame to supply the ironing pressure when the head and bed members are in closed position, and an automatic thickness compensator comprising a U-shaped lever carrying the bed member at one end and pivoted at the other end to the frame, said lever having a series of ratchet teeth adjacent the bed member, a pawl pivoted in the frame and cooperating with the ratchet teeth, a link and a bell crank lever connected to each other and the link to the pawl, said bell crank lever extending into the path of movement of the arm in such manner that when the head member contacts the material to be ironed on the bed member and moves the bed member downwardly a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the material to be ironed, the arm will actuate said bell crank lever and link to move the pawl into engagement with one of the ratchet teeth to prevent further downward movement of the bed member, and a spring between the frame and the bed member to force the latter upwardly to its initial position after each ironing operation.

9. In a flat plate ironer having cooperating and relatively movable head and bed members and a frame and an arm pivoted to the frame and carrying the head ,member, the combination with a, stored energy unit pivoted on the arm and frame to supply the ironing pressure when the head and bed members are in closed position, and an automatic thickness compensator comprising a U-shaped lever carrying the bed member at one end and pivoted at the other end to the frame, said lever having a series of ratchet teeth adjacent the bed member, a pawl pivoted in the frame and cooperating with the ratchet teeth, a link and a bell crank lever connected to each other and the link to the pawl, said bell crank lever extending into the path of movement of the arm in such manner that when the head member contacts the material to be ironed on the bed member and moves the bed member downwardly a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the material to be ironed, the arm will actuate said bell crank lever and link to move the pawl into engagement with one of the ratchet teeth to prevent further downward movement of the bed member to compensate for the thickness of the material to be ironed, and means to move the bed member and U-shaped lever to their normal raised position after each ironing operation.

10. In a fiat plate ironer having a base frame and movable arm with cooperating and relatively movable head and bed members, of which the head member is secured on the arm and the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 20,247 Engbrecht et a1. Jan. 19, 1937 3,291 Hammond Oct. 6, 1843 Number Number 20 446,000

10 Name Date Geldhof Aug. 26, 1924 Davis Sept. 6, 1932 Lindemann Mar. 7, 1933 Davis May 2, 1933 Raynolds July 17, 1934 Oliver Sept. 4, 1934 Davis July 23, 1935 Patterson Aug. 11, 1936 Gates et a1. Aug. 29, 1939 Engbrecht et al. Nov. 14, 1939 Bush Sept. 3, 1940 Rhodes et al. July 8, 1941 Forse Dec. 1, 1942 Strobridge Dec. 29, 1942 Pearson Aug. 31, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Apr, 22, 1936 

